I'm honored to have two special guests on the podcast today: Jean Mellano, author of the memoir Slipped Away, and veteran, founding member, and executive director of the Airborne TriTeam, Ron Hurtado.

Some background: I first met Steve Tarpinian in 1996 after deciding to attend his "Swim Power" clinic at the Nassau County Aquatic Center in Long Island, NY.

I was hoping to learn how to overcome my fear of the water and how to swim. If you're thinking that's not exactly an easy task for a 36-year-old having experienced a near drowning as a 10-year-old kid, you'd be right.

I arrived as a anxious newbie, wondering what the day would bring. When I left at the end of the day, I had made a friend for life and also come to know one of the best teachers, coaches and men I'll ever know.

Sadly, on March 15, 2015, that great teacher, coach, mentor...lost his war on depression, and took his own life.

Fast forward a short time later, Steve's soulmate and partner of 35 years, Jean Mellano, after reading all of the heartfelt remembrences of Steve on the popular Slowtwitch.com forum, decided to write a memoir to honor Steve's legacy and bring more awareness to mental illness, specifically depression. She titled it Slipped Away.

In Jean's words,"there is still so much stigma and embarassment attached to depression, which further adds to the suffering of those afflicted. Mental illness is where Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDs, and cancer were many years ago in terms of no one wanting to talk about it."

In today's podcast, Ron, Jean and I discuss many things including Steve's legacy, such as:

Why and how the book, Slipped Away, came to be.

Project9line, a Long Island based non-profit organization that supports veterans suffering from PTSD and depression, and which receives the majority of the proceeds from the sale of the book.

The Airborne TriTeam, another Long Island based non-profit organization started by Ron, specifically created for mentally and physically challenged war veterans. The team has a unique and strong connection to Steve and his legacy.

What we can all do to help those suffering from PTSD and other forms of mental illness.

Depression is like an iceberg...

In Jean's words: "To many people who knew him, Steve had it all and appeared to be on top of the world. Hindsight is 20/20; we now know things weren't always as they seemed. In many instances, people who suffer from depression and mental illness hide it very well. If someone close to you has a pattern of "going dark" (not returning phone calls or emails, etc.), it could be more than just them being busy or forgetful. When this happens too often, perhaps a little more compassion and understanding for that person may be in order."

Jean believes Steve's true legacy and how he should be remembered isn't as a great coach, race-director or athlete who took his own life, but rather, as a human being who did his very best to make people feel good about themselves and who inspired them to accomplish things they never thought they could do. I couldn't agree more.

Thank you Jean and Ron, and everyone who joined to listen in to this podcast.

To learn even more about the memoir and about Steve, or to purchase a copy, visit the website HERE. It's also available on Amazon. You might also want to visit the Slipped Away Facebook page HERE.

~Coach Al

PS: Jean wrote a wonderful article for the online magazine, The Mighty. In it she shares some of what she has learned about grief since Steve's passing. I highly recommend it.

Our team philosophy is focused around building a solid foundation of Mobility, Flexibility, and Stability before moving on to the Functional Strength and Sport-specific Training. This very individualized approach to uncovering areas to work on makes the virtual nature of the team and team coaching work very well.

Coach Al Lyman and Doc Kurt Strecker

These two professionals specialize in assessing each individual who contacts them and through a series of questionnaires and on-line discussions, Skype sessions, and/or talking on the phone they help you find your first step. Improvement is about making one step at a time and ensuring that your next step/choice/decision is a good one. Through authentic and honest feedback and individual thought and response they will help every single individual uncover their particular weaknesses and guide you through a process of working on them. A series of small incremental steps can make huge gains in a very short period of time – for anyone and everyone.

Team Pursuit Athletic Performance Members

We all have very different backgrounds, live all over the US and Europe, have different types of jobs, and very different skills.

What we have in common are the following three things:

A passion for sport as a lifelong part of our lives.

A commitment for growing every day, one step at a time.

A need to address some weakness (usually related to running) and/or fear (usually related to the swimming leg).

I don't know how I know these three things to be facts, because honestly I don't really even know my teammates very well. We do communicate through an on-line forum and Facebook and even occasionally race together when we hit them at the same time.

What I do know, is they are true.

Here’s a representative snapshot of our team:

We have a nationally ranked elite woman’s ultra-runner, mother of two, and business woman

We have a 5 or 6–time (we lost count) female Iroman age-group World Champion who has three small children and she helps run a small business

We have first time runners

We have first time triathletes

We have male and female Ironman and Half-Ironman age groupers who have qualified for and competed in both Ironman and Half-Ironman World Championships

We have people who are learning to swim AND nationally ranked former collegiate swimmers

We have former competitive bike racers and people who have not ridden a bike since they were a kid

My short story – one example of how Coach Al and Doc Strecker have impacted me:

I found "PAP" in July of 2012, after a physical breakdown while trying to complete Ironman Coeur D'Alene in 2012. I had done over 120 triathlons over almost 27 years by that point in my career. That next spring I had a 30 minute "PR" in my first half ironman race nine months after starting with PAP. But this note is not about my story, rather about how Coach Al and Doc have changed my life in triathlon and work.

Life happens to all of us, and my story of transformative change started early on a Sunday morning July 27th 2014, click on the short video story of my journey since then and the impact Al and Kurt have had on my life.

So what I want you to know, is that regardless of whether you live in Timbuktu, Kansas, Maine, Florida, Europe or anywhere else -- or if you want to be world champion, a weekend warrior, compete into your 70's, or just complete a 10K, triathlon of any distance, or an ultra-marathon -- check out the Pursuit Athletic Performance website or contact Coach Al Lyman or Doc Kurt Strecker.

Get started NOW on transforming your racing, training, and your life.

Have a great week everyone!
~Paul Scholz(teammate, triathlete, father, husband, and change agent)

It isn't just that we have expanded into a new training space on the top of Inspiration lane in Chester, Connecticut (with a completely new offering of classes and clinics for kids and adults in many different sports) OR that our team has grown at an unprecendented rate of speed. No, it's a lot more than just about a new training center or the numbers.

So what has made 2014 such a banner year?

Simply put, it has been the heart and soul of our team and our company, it is the people.

From novice to elite (and regardless of the sport), the person who finds a home as a member of Team Pursuit is friendly, supportive, humble, smart, compassionate, fun-loving and hard working. Our trainers and coaches are the same!

The start of the new year is a great time to reflect on why we are so proud of the work we do AND the athletes who make up our team.

Fun, comraderie, sharing, hard work and achievement - together. Some teams or groups exist solely for the betterment of its leaders or to help someone else profit. Team Pursuit exists primarily to help make a real difference and empower ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things, amidst a genuine spirit of sharing, humility, fun, and comraderie.

Training for the betterment of the body, not to its detriment. Team Pursuit athletes believe that the ultimate 'goal' is to be in the game for the long term. They don't believe that any short term goal is worth sacrificing their body and damaging it for the long term. Some see training through injury as a sign of toughness, but not Team Pursuit. Many of our present day team members were once consistently injured and grew tired of it. You can read about their stories of redemption to a new better way to live and train. There really IS a better way. You CAN go faster than ever and be truly healthy too!

Balance in all things. Family, sport, work, friends, community...they ALL matter and all are important for any person to lead a satisfying, rewarding, happy life. Balance might be the most over used cliche' word ever written, yet Team Pursuit athletes don't just give lip service to it. We preach it when it comes to our body and we LIVE it when it comes to how we reach higher and seek to explode our potential, on AND off the race course. Our own first-of-its-kind "Functional Well-Being" coaching program is just one example.

Learning. Team Pursuit athletes might be defined most by this single concept: they love to learn! Life long learners achieve more, enjoy the training process more, and ultimately go faster too.

Our staff of coaches, trainers, and sports medicine professionals is the very best available, anywhere. Rarely will you ever find the very best sports medicine advice AND professional coaching and racing expertise all under one roof. Combine those with a staff of dedicated professional coaches and trainers, and a team full of people who cherish the opportunity to reach out to each other and help, and you truly have a winning combination that is hard to beat.

2015 is going to be one amazing year! We invite you to consider joining us on the journey!

Team PURSUIT triathlete Megan Pennington, on her way to the OVERALL WIN at the Litchfield Hills Triathlon!

Today we dig into some great questions sent in to us from listeners. The first has to do with becoming a BETTER runner, something nearly every triathlete and pure runner has thought about at one time or another (or a few thousand times!) 🙂

Whether it's right here in our Pursuit Athletic Performance lab during a gait analysis, or out on the trail or road OR over a beer at the local pub, we always relish the opportunity to talk to anyone about running. (Anyone who knows Coach, KNOWS how much he can talk, talk, and talk some more about this topic!). No apologies necessary though - running has been a passion of Coach Al's since first running "Boston" in 1983.

Every so often though, a conversation with a frustrated triathlete turns to a sort of self depricating exchange where they end up telling us (trying to convince us, or themselves, perhaps?) why they CAN'T be as good a runner as they really would "like" to be. Whether this self-doubt stems from a long period of training struggle or chronic running-related injury, the bottom line is that most triathletes have much more running ability inside of them waiting to get out than they realize! They just don't know how to GET it out! In the podcast, we offer some real and practical suggestions to take your running to a new level.

In case you're one of those who is impatient and curious and can't wait to listen, here are some hints:

No! It isn't necessarily about planking, more of it, or doing it differently.

No, it won't necessarily be "easy." While we offer some practical suggestions that you CAN implement tomorrow in your training, the truth is that it generally takes a long time to "get good" as a runner, all things being equal.

Also, we jump in on some questions about all things swim training for the triathlete.

Is it REALLY worthwhile to spend time doing kicking sets if I am racing in a wetsuit and generally never kick in a race?

Why is the coach writing "hypoxic" sets for us anyway? Is it really valuable, and if so, why?

Despite what some believe, strength is NOT the goal with the movement training we do. Strength is a symptom ....a symptom of moving well. In a similar vein, speed training is not the optimal path toward improving our fitness. Improved fitness leads to improved speed potential. Speed is a product of moving well and improved fitness.

~Coach Al

Strength isn't the goal! Strength is only a symptom of moving well!

Here at Pursuit Athletic Performance, Kurt and I believe the true value and benefit to movement based strength training resides in digging DEEPER into the basic skill and integration of a movement.

In this day and age, with athletes becoming bored so easily and instant gratification being so prevalent in every phase of our life and culture, digging deeper into a movement vs. moving "on" from the movement is often difficult (and even frustrating) for the individual athlete to fully embrace. We seem to frequently fall victim to the mindset of always looking for the next "great" exercise, the next great "tip," or how we can blast on to the more "advanced" stuff, thinking its a magic bullet to the success we seek.

Whether or not you like it, the truth is that the devil is in the details and the magic to optimal progression and exploding your potential is in true mastery of the basics and fundamentals. This single concept, while easy to read, might be the most challenging for the average person to accept and embrace, but it IS the key to long term, meaningful success.

So, yes, variety is greatly overrated. To reiterate, once the shiny newness of an exercise wears off and you’re “bored” with it because it's not “new” anymore, you’re forced to get deeper into it, or bail out and just move on to something else “new” and “exciting.” I’d argue the best choice is the former, not the latter.

Of course, that being said, there are a great many ways to enhance the quality (and thus results) of the training you are doing, rather than to change exercises. For example:

1. Use a slower rep speed.

It’s common for folks to move in and out of movements quickly.

It’s common to see folks come out of the bottom of a movement quickly, rather than “owning” that bottom portion.

Removing the ‘elastic’ or rebound component to better own each phase of the movement.

2. Decrease your leverage.

Think about the HUGE difference in difficulty between a double arm push-up with a wide arm position, and a single arm push-up! Huge difference in leverage.

On the topic of stability, a tiny difference in how wide your arms or knees are really changes how difficult the exercise is to do well!

3. Improve your focus and tension!

Where’s the hard in your exercise coming from?

From inside of you? Posture, breathing, focus?

Or is it coming from OUTside of you? Are you thinking a different exercise, or more weight (outside of you) will automatically make you stronger? Not going to happen.

We need to consciously PRODUCE that tension, even when moving a relatively small amount of weight.

Focus, tension management, radiation of tension throughout!

“Intensity” and “strength” isn’t just about moving more weight. Its about bringing a certain level of whole-body tension and focus into every movement.

In RKC/HKC circles as well as in power lifting circles, there’s a saying: “If you make your lighter weights feel heavier, your heavier weights will feel lighter.” Practice the focus and tension skills with lighter resistance, you’ll get more benefit from every movement you do!

In order to be able to run as fast and as long as you would like to and remain injury-free while doing it, your running body must be BOTH strong and flexible. Think about this fact: approximately 50% of the energy that propels you forward during the running stride comes from elastic and reactive “energy-return” of your muscles! While you’re taking that in, think about this: at the same time that certain muscles are required to be elastic and reactive, others need to be very stiff and strong, to prevent your body turning into a wet-noodle as your feet hit the ground!

Muscles tense and lengthen and release and stretch (helping to facilitate rotation around your joints while doing all of that!) as they prepare to store energy and absorb outside impact forces and turn that stored energy into forward propulsion. There’s a lot more going on during the stride than you could ever imagine!

And while all of these things are happen within each of our bodies while we run, they happen at different rates of speed and relaxation and ease for each of us. We are, at once the same, and yet very different.

Some of us need more STRENGTH and STIFFNESS in our “chain,” while others need more FLEXIBILITY and ELASTICITY and MOBILITY. We each have our own “limiters” and weaknesses which may be making us either more prone to injury, or limiting our speed and endurance potential.

So given all of that, do YOU know what your weakness is?

For example...

Are you prone to calf injuries because your calves are forced to absorb impact forces due to “too tight” hips?

Do you lean back on downhills and “hurt,” suffering from painful quadriceps during those downhills because your quads are too weak to absorb those impact forces and prevent your body from collapsing against the forces of gravity?

Are you still landing out in front of your center of mass, even though you know you shouldn’t, because your hams and glutes are not “reactive” enough (too slow) and weak to contract quickly, getting your feet UNDER your hips as you touch down?

Does your low back hurt during the late stages of your longer runs or rides because its trying to do the work your butt should be doing?

Is your stride short and choppy because your hip flexors are so tight they can’t release to allow your pelvis to rotate forward so that your legs can extend behind you as you drive horizontally forward with each stride?

These are the questions and issues we ALL need to consider, and for each of us, it is different. If you take the time to listen to your body and consider what YOUR weakness or limiters are, then you’ll be able to address it and as a result, improve and run to your true potential!

The answers you are seeking are not always found through “harder” training. Sometimes the answers come when we listen within. Sometimes things like YOGA or revisiting the BASICS and FUNDAMENTALS, are the path to exploding our true potential, rather than another hard track session.

Our unique Pursuit Athletic Performance “Gait Analysis” system was designed to help us help YOU, learn what it is that YOU need the most! To learn more, go here to learn more about our analysis packages.

Check out our testimonials page here to learn more about the success stories of so many athletes who learned what THEY needed to do to truly explode their potential!

After all of the off- and early season hopes and dreams, are you achieving your goals at this point in the season?

Are you truly feeling strong, injury free, and ready to tackle the most important events that are coming up for you?

If you’re even a little bit disappointed so far this season, then read on!

Even though it is mid-season, I'm going to ask you to turn your thoughts to looking ahead to 2014, and let me share some thoughts on how that one can be your best season ever!

You know, the athletes at Pursuit Athletic Performance, coached by me and my partner Dr. Kurt Strecker, do things differently.

We consider the athletes we work with on our team and in our lab, enlightened.

By enlightened, I mean:

• They don’t seek to display “toughness” by pushing stupidly through injury. They listen and respect that little voice inside their head telling them how dumb and short sighted that is.

• They don’t add hard repetitive training to their bodies without first looking at their movement quality. They understand that being strong, stable, and mobile ensures the hard work they do actually lifts fitness and results in true, long-lasting improvement.

• They embrace the fact that—finally—an age of enlightened, smart training is here. They understand that as endurance athletes they no longer have to think of getting stronger (functional strength training) and going longer (endurance training) as opposing or dueling training concepts.

• They understand that smart, holistic, and effective triathlon training bridges gaps between the strength world and the endurance world to create happier, healthier, FASTER athlete. Their progression and results provide that living proof.

Biologist J.B.S. Haldane noted that “there are four stages of acceptance":

1. this is worthless nonsense 2. this is an interesting but perverse point of view 3. this is true, but quite unimportant 4. I always said so

In my opinion, this succinctly sums up the way every other coach and triathlon team in the world will eventually react and respond to what we at Pursuit Athletic Performance are doing NOW!

As I look to the future, I am 100% confident that other smarter triathlon coaches will be saying what I have been saying since I first started coaching in 1999:

• They will be recommending that you take the time to LEARN HOW YOU MOVE, before you begin to train your ass off.

• They will be waxing poetically about things like “balance in the body,” “getting compensation and dysfunction out of the body,” and “addressing your individual movement quality first” before getting on with race-specific training.

To be an enlightened, smart, healthier athlete in it for the long haul, and someone who might be a good fit for our triathlon team, you will have to be comfortable with one thing.

One very important thing.

Honesty.

Kurt and I are 100%, completely honest with our athletes.

You won’t ever get any BS from us.

We value your trust, money, and health and care about you as people, not just athletes. We won't waste your time—or ours—by giving you an “easy button,” or some simple training plans designed to destroy you, and thus, make you “feel” tough.

Yes, we are direct and our MISSION is to help athletes be the best they can be.

But...we don’t work with people who seek easy solutions, a quick fix, or the latest fad to try and get faster. If that's your profile, you're not a fit for our coaching or our team. It's as simple as that.

If you choose to join our team or come to us for a gait analysis, you will be asked to look at yourself honestly. We will challenge you to look at and act on the reality, not fantasy, when it comes to how your body is working to handle the rigors of training.

You’ll be tasked with smart work to address the obstacles preventing you from exploding your potential.

You are going to be doing hard work, and plenty of it!

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m as passionate as any coach on the planet about helping others to succeed and reach their goals and dreams in this sport!

If you come to see us (or see us virtually by using our Virtual Gait Analysis) or join our triathlon team, you won’t find fluff, filler, or BS. We won’t try to “sell” you on anything, except to believe that the best is locked within you, and if you are willing to look closely and do the work you can be better than ever.

It's the off-season, and now's the time to get ready for you best triathlon season ever! Join me for what is sure to be a jam-packed discussion on how you can get strong, get powerful, and get FAST in order to UNLEASH in 2013! A short video below gives you an overview of what I'll be discussing.

Click the image below, or this link, and sign up through our "FREE TRI WEBINAR" tab on Facebook! As soon as you claim your seat, we'll get you all the details and the private link to our Spreecast.

It's the off season! And NOW is the time to join the Pursuit Athletic Performance Team. It is the most effective time of year to begin laying the foundation for the 2013 triathlon season, which could be your most successful yet! Start NOW so you can experience the full benefit of our sophisticated, integrated training programs.

Click HERE to go to our website to find out more about the team and how to join!